Three storylines to watch for Virginia basketball versus No. 11 Tennessee

The Virginia Cavaliers begin their first of two games in the Bahamas Thursday night, matching up against 11th-ranked Tennessee. The ‘Hoos shot the lights out throughout their last game against Villanova and against a quick and aggressive Volunteer team, they’ll likely need to once again.

Here are three storylines to watch heading into Thursday’s game versus the Volunteers:

Can the Wahoo point guards continue to produce offensively?

The offense got a huge lift last game from Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames. Ames chipped in eight points in his second consecutive start and showed off his crafty skills around the rim with multiple nifty ball fakes for points around the rim.

Rohde was a bright spot off the bench to the delight of Cavalier fans. His 13 points and three threes provided a huge boost on offense in a performance that looked eerily similar to his best offensive game against Texas A&M last season.

Ames and Rohde provide different skillsets at the point guard spot, but both bring value. Against a team as good as Tennessee, Virginia will need to get into the paint more often compared to last game with Ames being Virginia’s most important player in that area.

Rohde was able to attack the heart of the defense with a few nice runners against the Wildcats and looked much more confident in doing so. Villanova’s need to respect him as a shooter not only helped open things up for other guys like Isaac McKneely and Elijah Saunders on the perimeter, but allowed for UVA to work towards the rim some as well.

What was most impressive and what could be very useful in this game is how confident Rohde looked using ball-screens. Tennessee has been inconsistent so far with how they’ve elected to cover them whether it be a hard-hedge or playing drop-coverage.

In this video, Rohde walks into a three after reusing the screen from Blake Buchanan. It’s a great IQ play and one of the most obvious examples of how confident Rohde looked as a scorer in this game. As Tennessee decides to change up how they play those picks, the ‘Hoos will need to be multiple with how they use them.

Does Isaac McKneely stay hot?

UVA hit a barrage of threes against the Wildcats as a team, but it was McKneely who put on a clinic for the ‘Hoos throughout his near perfect shooting night. The junior scored 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting and connected on six threes in as many attempts.

To expect McKneely to be perfect once again from deep is a bit of a stretch (or maybe not). But, regardless, UVA will need him to continue to consistently make shots. Last game was arguably his best in terms of shooting off the dribble and using ball screens. You can be sure it caught the eye of the Tennessee coaching staff, so it will be interesting to see early on how the Vols chose to play him on the perimeter.

Against a great defense, UVA will need to work harder to find him open looks. This clip is a solid example of Ron Sanchez drawing up offense to do just that.

McKneely starts in the paint and runs off the usual pin down from Rohde. Villanova decides to keep their matchups and chase around the pick. McKneely catches the ball and immediately gets a ball screen from Buchanan, Villanova doesn’t talk through it with Buchanan’s man electing to stay below him, resulting in another easy triple.

Can the defense limit Zakai Zeigler’s passing?

Without a doubt, the defense will need to be air tight against this Tennessee team. Point guard Zakai Zeigler, a cagey veteran for the Vols, has been the leader on offense with his 15.5 points per game.

Tennessee ranks fourth in the country in effective field goal percentage and a big part of that is having a guard like Zeigler routinely finding open guys. UVA’s had moments where the defense hasn’t been on the same page and has left players open for easy baskets. You can almost certainly chalk up any miscommunication or poor double teams as points in this game. Zeigler is that good at getting the ball where it needs to go and Tennessee has a supporting cast that makes defenses pay when left open.

In this clip, Buchanan tries to slow down the ball-handler with a hedge off a slipped pick, but the ‘Hoos don’t communicate in time to match back up, leading to an open three on the wing off a quick pass.

Even if defenders are only one step or two out of position, Zeigler can thread the needle. This clip is from the exact same area of ​​the floor as the prior play. After splitting a poor Montana double team, he’s able to keep his head up despite three defenders stepping towards him and putting up a timely lob for the dunk.

At the same time, when defenses are able to be disciplined and stay on a string, Zeigler has a tendency to force passes into tight windows. He’s averaging 4.5 turnovers per game, committing 11 in the win over Louisville.

Here, the Louisville defender recognizes the quick slip on the ball-screen and decides not to step out and deter Zeigler. Louisville does a great job not panicking and maintaining their matchups around the hoop to force a turnover for points the other way.